Buseman v. Buseman

299 N.W.2d 807, 1980 S.D. LEXIS 461
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 17, 1980
Docket13042
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 299 N.W.2d 807 (Buseman v. Buseman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Buseman v. Buseman, 299 N.W.2d 807, 1980 S.D. LEXIS 461 (S.D. 1980).

Opinions

DUNN, Justice.

Dianna Buseman (plaintiff) and Ervin Buseman (defendant) were granted a divorce on December 21, 1979. From this judgment and decree defendant appeals. We affirm.

Defendant and plaintiff were married on August 11,1973. One child was born to this union on April 16, 1974. Both parties have children from previous marriages. Plaintiff has two children, while defendant has one child from a prior marriage.

At the time of their marriage, plaintiff owned a small amount of furniture and a 1954 Oldsmobile automobile. Defendant owned a small amount of furniture, a savings account, an automobile, and a small number of livestock. Plaintiff was not employed during the first two years of marriage. She later secured employment at a Hinky Dinky Store in Sioux Falls on a part-time basis.

In May of 1976 defendant inherited $60,-000 from his mother’s estate. He used $58,-000 from his inheritance as a down payment on a quarter section of land in Turner County, South Dakota, with the remainder of this inheritance being used to improve the farm. The parties gave a mortgage of $60,000 to finance the remainder of the purchase price of this land. In July of 1976 they moved onto this farmstead.

During their time together on the farm, plaintiff continued to work at Hinky Dinky, earning approximately $10,000 per year. Defendant was employed at Sears and Roebuck, earning approximately $15,000 per year. Both parties contributed their earnings and substantial efforts toward the operation of the farm and the raising of their family. A small number of livestock was raised by the parties, with the rest of the farmland being leased out to defendant’s brother.

In March of 1978 they separated with plaintiff moving to Sioux Falls. They made an attempt to reconcile in March of 1979. Defendant purchased a $61,000 home and moved to Sioux Falls in hopes of succeeding in their reconciliation. The Sioux Falls home purchase was financed with a $12,000 down payment raised by selling all their livestock and a mortgage for the balance. The parties again separated in August of 1979, with a divorce being granted on December 21, 1979. Pursuant to this divorce, plaintiff was awarded sole custody of their minor child Christopher. Plaintiff was further awarded $125 per month child support, an equitable share of their personal property, and a property settlement of $21,200 in the form of a lien on the farmstead. The trial court awarded no alimony.

Defendant raises the following issues, which we shall deal with in the order presented herein:

I. Is a father with proven parental abilities entitled to the custody of his minor son when the evidence concerning the appropriate placement of the child indicates neither parent is substantially better equipped to handle [the] responsibilit[y] [of custody] than the other?
II. Is the wife, in a marriage of short duration, entitled upon divorce to an award amounting to substantially one-half of her husband’s separate property?

We begin by restating the basic rule that:

Upon review this court must give due regard to the opportunity of the trial court to judge the credibility of the witnesses and its findings will not be set aside unless they are clearly erroneous. . . . The trial court has broad discretion in awarding custody of minor children and we will not interfere with that discretion unless the record presents a clear case of abuse.

Spaulding v. Spaulding, 278 N.W.2d 639, 640 (S.D.1979) (citations omitted).

Here the trial court made a specific finding of fact that “[p]laintiff is a fit and proper parent for Christopher, providing him with love, discipline, a good home, proper food and clothing.”

[809]*809Defendant presented evidence that plaintiff had placed Christopher in a cold shower in an attempt to control his hyperactivity. Furthermore, plaintiff had associations with other men prior to their divorce.

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Bluebook (online)
299 N.W.2d 807, 1980 S.D. LEXIS 461, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/buseman-v-buseman-sd-1980.